AutoZone Complaint Letter - Gremler.net

March 31, 2005Bruce LongfellowAutoZone Regional Office463 Waterbury CourtSuite BGahanna, OH 43230(614) 475-2621Dwayne D. Gremler1803 Osprey CourtPerrysburg, OH 43551H: (419) 873-1412W: (419) 372-0226Dear Mr. Longfellow,I have used AutoZone for the past 5 years that I have lived in Ohio and have generally been pleasedwith the products and services your company provides. Unfortunately, I recently had a poor experiencewith AutoZone. I am writing you this letter in order to give the AutoZone Corporation one last chance atmy future business. I have not been able to get a resolution to my problem by going through the managerof the local Perrysburg, Ohio AutoZone store, so I am writing to you as a last resort.My problem with AutoZone began on February 1, 2005. My wife was driving our 1998 Dodge Caravanthat afternoon, and when she finished her shopping at the Meijer store here in Perrysburg, the vehiclewould not start. She called AAA for assistance, but as it turned out I arrived to help her just before theydid. I hooked up my jumper cables to the van, and after about 5-7 minutes I was able to get it started (asthe AAA person directed). The AAA guy suggested the battery was probably bad and that we ought tohave it checked out. I agreed, so I drove the van immediately to the Perrysburg AutoZone (store # 1742)since I had originally purchased the battery from that store on November 15, 2004 (making the batteryabout 14 months old).I arrived at the Perrysburg AutoZone store at about 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 1. Because of thedifficulty I had just had in getting the van started, I did not turn the engine off. Instead, I went into thestore and asked if it was possible to test the battery while it was still in the van. A rather young employee(I was told later his name may have been Jim) indicated that would not be a problem, and he wheeled outa machine (on a cart) to do the test. As he and I walked out to the van, I described to him exactly why Iwas there—I wanted AutoZone to test the battery to see if it was in need of replacement (since it wasoriginally purchased there). As he popped the hood and began to hook up the unit to test the battery, healso apparently decided to do some other type of diagnostic test. He jiggled a couple of wires, andimmediately the van engine stopped running. At this point he claimed the problem was clearly with myalternator, but that he could give me a jump start to get the van running again. Since I am not a mechanic,I trusted his judgment, accepted the jump start, and drove off to the local Dodge dealer to have themcheck out my alternator.I arrived at Charlie’s Dodge (in Maumee, Ohio) around 7:30 p.m. The service department was closed forthe evening, so I was forced to leave the van there and have my wife take me home. The next morning,February 2, Charlie’s Dodge called to inform me that my battery was bad. I said that AutoZone hadinformed me that my alternator was bad. Charlie’s said that perhaps that may be the case, too, but clearlythe battery was bad and would need to be replaced before they could test the alternator. So, my wifedrove up to Charlie’s Dodge, was given the bad battery, and she took it back to AutoZone. WhenAutoZone tested it, it was indeed bad. They gave her a new battery, and my wife took it back to Charlie’sDodge. With a new battery installed, they were able to do a diagnostic test on my alternator, and theydetermined that there was nothing wrong with it. They only problem they were able to find was with thebad battery. (Indeed, in the two months that have transpired since, we have not had any problems withthe engine not starting.)

The problem I have with AutoZone is that it cost me $77.22 to have Charlie’s Dodge tell me that thebattery was bad. I had already suspected this problem, and when I brought the van into AutoZone onFebruary 1, I specifically asked for the battery to be checked. The AutoZone employee did notadequately test the battery, and as a result I had to pay someone else to tell me the battery was bad.I went back into the Perrysburg AutoZone store on February 4 to ask AutoZone about this situation, fullyexpecting someone to take responsibility in making the situation right. That did not happen then, andhas not happened since. On February 4 the manager, Dan, said he would need to talk to the employee andthen he would call me (he wrote down my phone number). He never called. Since I did not hear fromhim for a couple of days, I stopped in again on February 8. This time Dan said he would need to discussthe situation with the district manager and then he would call me (I left him my business card). He nevercalled. On February 15 I stopped in again. This time Dan said he would need to talk to the districtmanager and the employee, that I should be patient, and that he would call me. He never called. OnFebruary 25 I called the store and talked to Dan. He said he would talk to the employee and then get backto me via the telephone. He never called.I have now been dealing with this situation for two months. I am tired of initiating contact. I have neverreceived a single phone call from the Perrysburg AutoZone store. I think that Dan, the manager of thePerrysburg store, is hoping I will get tired of contacting him and just forget it. I have not forgotten.Rather, now I am mad. I have had to spend much more time in seeking a resolution than I should have.At a minimum, I now expect AutoZone to compensate me $77.22 for the charge I incurred to havesomeone else tell me my battery was bad. But, to be honest, because of all of running around my familyhad to do on February 1 and 2, and because of all the time I have spent seeking a resolution to the matter,to be fully satisfied I would like additional consideration. (I have enclosed copies of everything I haverelated to this circumstance.)In my opinion, the Perrysburg AutoZone store has been anything but customer-oriented throughout thisentire process. I have a hard time believing that AutoZone as a corporation treats all of its customers inthis fashion. As I stated earlier, I am writing you to give AutoZone one more chance to do the right thing.How you respond to this letter will determine whether I ever do business with AutoZone again.On a final note, I teach a class on Services Marketing at Bowling Green State University. In this classwe talk quite a bit about situations such as this; that is, how a firm recovers when problems occur. Youcan be assured that I will discuss this situation in class; I generally have between 80 and 120 students inmy classes each semester. As I always do when I have any service encounter, I will relay the facts of thissituation to my students and let them form their own opinion. Your reply to this letter will be the end ofthe story, so you have the chance to make quite an impression on many students with your response.Since this situation has been dragging on for two months now, I would appreciate your prompt responseto this letter.Sincerely,Dwayne D. Gremlerdg: enclosures